[ female announcer ] they can be enlightening. hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. this is a fox news special presentation. a fox news special presentation. >> good evening, across the nation from charlotte on this final night of the democratic national convention. i'm shepard smith with fox news. in just minute we expect president obama to accept his party's nomination for a second term in the white house and to make his case to why voters should elect him. excerpts from his speech show the president will lay out a set of goals including creating a million new manufacturing jobs by 2016 and investing in the economy with the money we're no long are using for the wars in iraq and afghanistan.

wen president obama will define his race -- we understand president obama will define his race against republican nominee mitt romney saying voters face a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future. the president was to deliver tonight's speech at charlotte's bank of american stadium or i should say 2008 address, but it was moved inside after possible thunderstorms. president obama is set to take the stage in a bit, but as so often happens, they're a bit off time tonight. the vice president has been running a bit long, but it's been an impassioned speech that has this coliseum full of some 20,000 people from time to time in tears and in others up and cheering. let's listen as the vice president finishes for us this evening. >> you didn't lose faith. you fought back. you didn't give up. you got up. you're the ones, the american people. you're the ones.

you're the reason why we are still better positioned than any country in the world to lead the 21st century. you never quit on america and you deserve a president who will never quit on you! will never quit on you. [ cheering and applause ] >> folks, there's one more thing our republican opponents are just dead wrong. about america is not in decline. america is not in decline. i've got news for governor romney and congressman ryan. gentlemen, never ever, it never makes sense. it's never been a good bet to bet against the american people, never! [ cheering and applause ] my

fellow americans, we have no intention of downsizing the american dream. [ cheering and applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, in a moment we're going to hear from a map whose whole life is a -- a man whose whole life is a testament for the power of that dream and whose presidency is the best hope to secure that dream for our children for you see, we see a future. we really honest to god do.

we see a future where everyone rich and poor does their part and has a part a future where we depend more on clean energy from home and less on oil from abroad, a future where we're no. 1 in the world again in college graduation, a future where we promote the private sector, not the privileged sector and a future where women once again control their own choices, their destiny and their own healthcare! [ cheering and applause ] >> and ladies and gentlemen, barack and i see a future, it's in our dna, where no one, no one is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance. is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance. [ cheering and applause ]

>> folks, we see a future where america lead not only by the power of our -- the example of our power, but by the power of our example where we bring our troop home from afghanistan just as we proudly did from iraq, a future where we fulfill the only truly sacred obligation we have as a nation, the only truly sacred obligation we have is to prepare those who we send to war and care for them when they come home from war and tonight i want to acknowledge as we

should every night the incredible debt we owe to the families of those 6,473 fallen angels, those 49,746 wounded, thousands critically, thousands who will need our help for the rest of their lives. folks, we never, we must never ever forget their sacrifice and always keep them in our care and in our prayers. my fellow americans, we now find ourselves at the hinge of history and the direction we turn is not figuratively, it's

literally in your hands. it has been a truly great honor to serve you and to serve with barack who has always stood up with you for the past four years. i've seen him tested. i know his strength, his command, his faith and i also know the incredible confidence he has in all of you. i know this man. yes, the work for not yet complete, but we are on our way. the journey of hope is finished, but we are on our way and the cause of change is not fully accomplished, but we are on our way. so i say to you tonight with absolute confidence, america's best days are ahead and yes, we are on our way! [ cheering and applause ] >> and in light of that horizon

for the values that define us, for the ideals that inspire us there is only one choice that, choice is to boldly move forward and to finish the job and to reelect president barack obama. god bless you all and may god protect our troops. god bless you. thank you. you. thank [ cheering and applause ]♪ [ music ] ♪joe biden, his wife jill biden joining him and exiting stage left as the signs in the crowd read fired up and ready for joe.

it was quite a last 45 minutes, joe biden going across the political spectrum and reminding people this is a man he knows, president obama, a man he's confident can lead this nation if given four more years to complete the task. joe biden, one known to go off script and sometimes a little bit long, tonight they are only slightly over. for those of you just tuning in and in a matter of minutes we'll have a video presentation which will introduce the president. it will last about seven minute. there may be a little surprise we're led to believe by the democratic national committee in there and we'll not spoil that to you and then the president of the united states to make his case to why he deserves four more years in office and to do what they've been saying in north carolina complete the task and right the ship, a lot of work ahead, a man who knows vice president

biden pretty well, our congressional correspondent mike emanuel live in the skybox high above. the vice president got this place fired up. >> you can see why the obama campaign loves joe biden. he is prone to gaffes at time but gaffes or no, he delivers the goods in terms of red meat, reaching out to average americans across the country and speaking in very plain direct language and hitting a lot of points that fire up people in this hall and presumably throughout the country. presumably across the nt. >> he did make mention repeatedly, if memory serves, the fact that the republican presidential nominee did not discuss the troops overseas, didn't mention the wars and that's been a talking point for the democrats since this convention began two days ago. >> that's correct. you heard him make reference to barack obama as commander in chief. he talked as the person in the

room in the oval office with president obama when tough decisions came to his desk. what do we do about getting osama bin laden? there are risks involved with that mission and he talked about the president's decisive leadership in that situation and talked about the automotive industry which was crumbling before our eyes and president obama had to make a decision how to handle it and so he gave a very personal testimonial about the guy in the room with the president of the united states and his decisive leadership when tested by huge events that were taking place before our very eyes. be a very emotional man has been in all his many years in congress. i found it interesting the way the faces in the room went from jubilation to quiet to tears and back to jubilation. >> his voice got very soft when he paid tribute to the troops and you could hear a pin drop

and he raised them to their feet. he was put into nomination by his son, attorney general of delaware, beau biden and you could see the tears streaming down joe biden's face and a proud moment, a son putting his father's name in for nomination. >> as they did in the republican convention throughout this week they've been introducing each speaker with a video presentation. the one for the vice president biden took us through his middle class upbringing and reminded the nation and democratic faithful in the arena that joe biden comes from a place right in the middle. he continued to tell people what we have to do is build this nation from the middle and to give those who are poorer a larder up. are -- larder-- ladder up. >> of course he was famous for

taking the train every night from washington to delaware to be with his family suggesting he did not become a washington insider, that he was with his family back in his homestate of delaware every night. he talks about being joe from scranton, pennsylvania. he's a very slap people on the back kind of guy, a very friendly relaxed guy and somebody who has ability to connect with people. he referred to the president by his first name barack. some people don't do that, but that's his style, very warm and able to connect with a lot of people in a lot of different ways. >> what can we expect from this video about to set up the appearance of the president tonight, mike? >> undoubtedly it will be somewhat biographical talking about his family and the four years we've been through with him as president, some of the challenges he's faced and essentially trying to move the page forward to try to close the transaction on another four

years. this convention has laid out with a variety of themes. tuesday night was about the first lady trying to reconnect the american people with her husband, the president. last night was former president bill clinton trying to address any dissatisfaction or frustration the american people may be feeling in terms of saying essentially the problems were so big facing this country that no other president including clinton himself could have solved them in a few years. so tonight it's up to this president to try and close the deal. >> we've just gotten release from the obama/biden campaign. they say the president will ask the country to rally around a set of concrete goals to move the country forward toward an economy that grows from the middle out, not top down. the roadmap says the campaign a real achievable plan that will create jobs, expand opportunity, strengthen the middle class, deliver concrete results in key areas of

manufacturing, education, and national deficit. he has to sell himself another four years. there's no question many in his base have been unhappy with some of his policies. making the case tonight is a tall order to hear it from many analysts. >> it was four years ago when the theme was hope and change and there's been a great concern on the democratic side of things about trying to jolt enthusiasm to try to reenergize the base to make sure young people who came out in huge numbers for years ago do the same thing go time around. so we expect the president to try to ignite some of that passion as he tries to lay out what he's going to do. >> thanks so much, mike

emanuel. there's a vi ♪ [ piano music ] >> we've been through a lot together, but we've known tough times before. ♪ what carries us hrough and he ind what carries us through and helps us endure? what are the qualities so essential to us and the leaders who occupied this office? >> he did some things knowing

they wouldn't be popular in the short run that would lay the foundation for recovery. no other country in the world would give up the capacity to manufacture cars if it had it and so he did what the government is supposed to do in a case like that. >> do not rescue the automobile industry, it was overwhelming. look at the polling number. >> a country in the midst of a financial crisis that no one really knew the depth of the challenges it was facing. i think he had a sense. >> my grandparents came out of the depression. they knew what it was like for people not to have work. we all understand work is something more than just a paycheck, what gives you dignity. it gives you a sense of purpose. >> he said you guys got to work together and come up and everybody has to have some skin in the game. you got to have a give-up and modernize the automobile industry. >> everybody said it's never going to work. >> guess what?

80,000 more people working in the car business than we did before the restructuring was passed. they're middle class jobs. people can raise a family on a decent wage. >> we've gone from an economy that was shedding jobs to one that's consistently creating jobs at all sectors. every night he's up until 1:00, 2:00 in the morning with his big stack of briefing books and he reads the letters he gets from people all over america. he gets from plfrom ameri they are, as he put it, some of the most informative pieces of material that he gets that keeps him grounded. anyone who has kids know that the truth is no matter what you do your kids still think they are the most important people in the room. so we sit around the dinner table and he's the last person to be asked oh yeah, how of your day, dad? really he's an after thought.

>> he never starts a conversation by saying what's the best political decision here? what will help us the most? never. >> so he wasn't going to back out just because it got hard, just because it didn't poll well. that's just never been who he is and it's certainly not how he will ever govern this country. will ever >> when my mom got cancer, she wasn't a wealthy woman and it pretty much drained all her resources. >> watching your here die of something that could have been prevented, that's a tough thing to deal with. >> the reason he pushed ahead knowing that there could be horrible political consequences for him just as for me is that healthcare costs had gone up three times the rate of inflation. this is a huge economic issue because we spend 17 1/2% of our income on healthcare. >> anybody who gets medical care, hundreds of thousands of

dollars, you know, imagine working class mom opening up that kind of bill, you know. with somebody sending that to her with a straight face. th straight that understanding of that kind of reality for millions of americans drove him to make sure that this legislation got passed. it takes a conscious effort to stay connected with what's going on in people's lives. >> this was a matter of principle for him. he ran on it. he said he was going to do it and he did it. before. >> you hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it. -- you hire the president to make the calls when no one else it. he had to decide. that's one thing george bush said that was right. the president is the decider in chief. - >> we were only about 50% sure that bin laden was in that

compound. if i had 100% confidence in our navy seals. >> i sat in that room with him when we were getting feeds on what was going on at the time. he sat there resolute, concerned, just watching. we got him, confirm it. just boom, boom, boom. then came and explained to everybody the next day in the cabinet room what happened. i mean this is a guy whether or not has a backbone like a ramrod. >> good evening, tonight i can report to the american people and to the world. >> he took the harder and the more honorable path and the one that produced in my opinion the best result. .

>> when i saw what had happened, i thought to myself i hope that's the call i would have made. it was just the right thing to do. >> we have a long way to go. but with every new beginning, every homecoming, every step forward we remember who we are. >> what's really allowing this economy to heal and get us moving again is the resilience and the strength and the character of the american people. they don't quit. they don't give up. -- they do not quit. they do not give up. partly bec partly because of family, partly because of a sense of community, patriotism and pride in this country. they keep going. ♪

that's the incredible gift the american people keep giving back to me in this job. [ cheering and applause ] >> thank you so much. tonight i am so thrilled and so honored and so proud to introduce the love of my life, the father of our two girls and the president of the united states of america, barack obama. ♪ [ cheering and applause ] ♪ [ music ] ♪ ♪ [ music ] ♪

[ cheering and applause ] ♪ [ music ] ♪ [ cheering and applause ] >> thank >> thank you. [ cheering and applause ] >> thank you.

thank you. thank you so much. -- thank thank you. [ crowd chanting four more years ] >> thank you so much. thank you. thank you very much, everybody. [ cheering and applause ] thank you. michelle, i love you so much. a few nights ago everybody was reminded just what a lucky man i am. [ cheering and applause ] >> malia and sasha, we are so

proud of you. [ cheering and applause ] >> and yes, you do have to go to school in the morning. orning. and joe biden, thank you for being the very best vice president i could have ever hoped for and being a strong and loyal friend. [ cheering and applause ] >> madam chairwoman, delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. [ cheering and applause ]

>> now the first time i addressed this convention in 2004, i was a younger man, a senate candidate from illinois who spoke about hope, not blind optimism, not wishful thinking but hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty. that dogged faith in the future which has pushed this nation forward even when the odds are great, even when the road is long. eight years later that hope has been tested by the cost of war, by one of the worst economic

crises in history and by political gridlock that's left us wondering whether it's still even possible to tackle the challenges of our time. the trip -- i know campaigns can seem small, even silly sometimes. trivial things become big distractions. serious issues become soundbites. the truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. if you're sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me, so am i. messagee believe me, so i am. [ laughter ] [ cheering and applause ] >> but when all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. over the next few years big decisions will be made in washington on jobs, the economy, taxes and deficits,

energy, education, war and peace, decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and on our children's lives for decades to come and on every issue the choice you face won't just be between two candidates or two parties. it will be a choice between two different pats for america, a choice between -- paths for america, a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future. ours is a fight to restore the values that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known. economy the world has ever known. [ cheering and applause ] >> the values my grandfather defended as a soldier in patton's army, the values that drove my grandmother to work on a bomber assembly line while he was gone. they knew they were part of something larger, a nation that

triumphed over facism and depression, a nation where the most innovative businesses turned out the world's best products and everyone shared in that pride and success from the corner office to the factory floor. rner office my grandparents were given the chance to go to college, buy their own home and fulfill the basic bargain at the heart of america's story, the promise that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, that everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules from main street to wall street to washington d.c. plays by the sas [ cheering and applause ] >> and i ran for president because i saw that basic bargain slipping away. i began my career helping people in the shadow of a

shuttered steel mill at a time when too many good jobs were starting to move overseas and by 2008 we had seen nearly a decade in which families struggled with costs that kept rising but paychecks that didn't. folks racking up more and more debt just to make the mortgage or pay tuition, put gas in the car or food on the table and when the house or cars collapsed in the great recession, millions of innocent americans lost their jobs, their homes, their life savings, a tragedy from which we're still fighting to recover. fighting to recover. now our friends down in tampa at the republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with america, but they didn't have much to say about how they'd make it right. ould make it right. they want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. and that's because all they had to offer is the same

prescriptions they've had for the last 30 years, have a surplus, try a tax cut. deficit too high, try another one. feel a cold coming on? take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations and call us in the morning. [ cheering and applause ] >> now i've cut taxes for those who need it. middle class families, small businesses, but i don't believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores or pay down our deficit. i don't believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out of china.

s and engineers coming out of china. after all we've been through i don't believe that rolling back regulations on wall street will help the small businesswoman expand or the laid off construction worker keep his home. we have been there. we've tried that and we're not going back. we are moving forward, america. tried that, and we are not going back. [ cheering and applause ] now i won't pretend the path i'm offering is quick or easy. i never have. you didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. you elected me to tell you the truth. [ cheering and applause ] >> and the froth is it will take more than a -- the truth is it will take more than a few years to solve challenges that built up over decades, require common effort and shared responsibility and the kind of

bold experimentation that franklin roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one and by the way, those of us who carry on his party of legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from washington, but know this, america. our problems can be solved. our problems can be our challenges can be met. the path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place and i'm asking you to choose that future. i'm asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit, real achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. that's what we can do in the next four years and that is why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. [ cheering and applause ]

>> we can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer jobs. after a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed we're getting back to basics and doing what america has always done best. we are making things again. i've met workers in detroit and toledo who feared they'd never build another american car and today they can't build them fast enough because we reinvented a dying auto industry that's back on the top of the world. [ cheering and applause ] >> i've worked with business leaders who are bringing jobs

back to america not because our workers make less pay, but because we make better products, because we work harder and smarter than anyone else. i signed trade agreements that are helping our companies sell more goods to millions of new customers, goods that are stamped with three proud words made in america. words -- made in america.%- [ cheering and applause ] chants >> and after a decade of decline this country created over half a million manufacturing jobs in the last 2 1/2 years and now you have a choice. now, y we can get more tax breaks to corporations that ship job overseas or we can start rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here in the united states of america.

o untriess [ cheering and applause ] >> we can help big factories and small businesses double their exports and if we choose this path, we can create a million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years. you can make that happen. you can choose that future. choose the future. you can choose the path where we control more of our own energy. after 30 years of inaction we raised fuel standards so that by the middle of the next decade cars and trucks will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. , cars and [ cheering and applause ] >> we have doubled our use of renewable energy and thousands of americans have jobs today building wind turbines and long lasting batteries. in the last year alone we cut oil imports by 1 million- barrels a day, more than any administration in recent history and today the united

states of america is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last two decades. than at any time in the last two decades [ cheering and applause ] >> so now you have a choice between a strategy that reverses this progress or one that builds on it. we have opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration in the last three years and we'll open more, but unlike my opponent i will not let oil companies write this company's energy plan or endanger our coastlines or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our taxpayers. we're offering a better path. [ cheering and applause ] >> we're offering a better path where we -- a future where we keep investing in wind and solar and clean coal, where

farmers and scientists harness new biofuels to power our cars and trucks, where construction workers build homes and factories that waste less energy, where we develop 100 year supply of natural gas that's right beneath our feet. if you choose this path, we can cut our oil imports in half by 2020 and support more than 600,000 new jobs in natural gas alone. atural gas alone. [ cheering and applause ] >> and yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet because climate change is not a hoax. more drought and floods and wildfires are not a joke. they are a threat to our children's future and in this election you can do something about it. [ cheering and applause ]

>> you can choose a future where more americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete no matter how old they are or how much money they have. education was the gateway to opportunity for me. it was the gateway for michelle. it was the gateway for most of you and now more than ever it is the gateway to a middle class life. gateway for the first time in a generation nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning. some of the worst schools in the country have made real gains in math and reading, millions of students are paying less for college today because we finally took on a system that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on banks and lenders. and now you have a choice. we can gut education or we can decide that in the united states of america no child should have her dreams deferred

because of a crowded classroom or a crumbling school. no family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don't have the money. no company should have to look for workers overseas because they couldn't find any with the right skills here at home. that's not our future. s not our futu [ cheering and applause ] >> that is not our future. [ cheering and applause ] >> a government has a role in this, but teachers must inspire. principals must lead. parents must instill a thirst for learning and students, you got to do the work. to do the work. and together i promise you we can outeducate and outcompete any nation on earth. on earth. so help me. help me recruit 100,000 math and science teachers within 10 years and improve early

childhood education. help give 2 million workers the chance to learn skills that their community college -- at their community college that will lead directly to a job. help us work with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition cost over the next 10 years. we can meet that goal together. you can choose that future for america. choose the future for america. [ cheering and applause ] >> that's our future. you know, in a world of new threats and new challenges you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. four years ago i promised to end the war in iraq. we did. to end the war %+ [ cheering and applause ] >> i promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11 and we have. [ cheering and applause ] >> we've blunted the taliban's momentum in afghanistan and in

2014 our longest war will be over. in our lon [ cheering and applause ] >> a new tower rises above the new york skyline, al-qaeda is on the path to defeat and osama bin laden is dead. osama bin laden -- al- on [ cheering and applause ] [ crowd chanting usa ] >> but tonight we pay tribute to the americans who still serve in harm's way. we are forever in debt to a generation who sacrificed -- whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. we will never forget you and so long as i'm commandef we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. ever when you take off the uniform,

we will serve you as well as you served us because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their head or the care that they need when they come home. a route of rather head, or the care that they n [ cheering and applause ] >> around the world we've strengthened old alliances and forged new coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. we've reasserted our power across the pa sufic and stood up to china -- pacific and stood up to china on behalf of our workers. from burma to libya to the south sudan we have advanced the rights of all human beings, men, women, christians, muslims and jews, but for all the progress we've made challenges remain. terrorist plots must be disrupted. europe's crisis must be contained. our commitment to israel's

security must not waiver and neither must our pursuit of peace. and her shou [ cheering and applause ] >> the iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. the historic change sweeping across the arab world must be defined not by the iron fist of a dictator or the hate of extremists but by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people who are reaching for the same rights that we celebrate here today. [ cheering and applause ] >> so now we have a choice. now, e. my opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy. are new to foreign policy. [ laughter ] >> but from all that we've seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost america so dearly. after all, you don't call russia or no. 1 enemy, not al-qaeda, russia. number oneeene

unless you're still stuck in a cold war mind warp. not [ cheering and applause ] still arinor >> you might not be ready for diplomacy with beijing if you can't visit the olympics without consulting our closest ally. insulti [ cheering and applause ] chap -- without insulting our closest ally. my opponent said that it was tragic to end the war in iraq and he won't tell us how we'll end the war in ago. well, i have and i will. while my and while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our joint chiefs don't even want, i will use the money we're no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and runways because after two wars that have cost

us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars it's time to do some nation building right here at home. [ cheering and applause ] >> you can choose a future where we reduce our deficit without sticking it to the middle class. independent experts say that my plan would cut our deficit by $4 trillion. last summer i worked with republicans in congress to cut a billion dollars in spending because those of us who believe government can be a force for good should work harder than anyone to reform it so it's leaner and more efficient and more responsive to the american people. r o iss [ cheering and applause ] >> i want to reform the tax code so that simple, fair and ask the wealthiest households

to pay higher taxes on incomes over $250,000, the same rate we had when bill clinton was president, the same rate we had when our economy created nearly 23 million new jobs, the biggest surplus in history and a whole lot of millionaires to boot. lot of millionaires to boot now i'm still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my bipartisan debt commission. no party has a monopoly on wisdom. no democracy works without compromise. i want to get this done and we can get it done but when governor romney and his friends in congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy, well, what did bill clinton call it? you do the arithmetic. you do the math. [ cheering and applause ] >> i refuse to go along with that and as long as i'm president, i never will.

as [ cheering and applause ] >> i refuse to ask middle class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire's tax cuts. anothe [ cheering and applause ] >> i refuse to ask students to pay more for college or kick children out of head start programs to eliminate health insurance for millions of americans who are poor and elderly or disabled all so those with the most can pay less. i'm not going along with that. [ cheering and applause ] >> and i will never, i will never turn medicare into a voucher. medicare into a voucher. [ cheering and applause ] >> no american should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. years at the

mercy they should retire with the care and the dignity that they have earned. and d yes, we will reform and strengthen medicare for the long haul, but we'll do it by reducing the cost of healthcare, not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more. the -- >> [ cheering and applause ] >> and we will keep the promise of social security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it, not by turning it over to wall street. security not by turning [ cheering and applause ] >> this is the choice we now face. this is what the election comes down to. mes down to. over and over we've been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way, that since government can't do everything it should do almost nothing. ng it shoul if you can't afford health insurance, hope that you don't

get sick. hat you do not if a company releases toxic pollution into the air your children breathe, well, that's the price of progress. if you can't afford to start a business or go to college, take my opponent's advice and borrow money from your parents. [ cheering and applause ] >> you know what? that's not who we are. not were. that's not what this country is about. about. as americans we believe we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, rights that no man or government can take away. we insist on personal responsibility and we celebrate individual initiative. we're not entitled to success. we have to earn it. we honor the thrivers, the dreamers, the risk takers, the entrepreneurs who have always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system, the greatest engine of growth and

prosperity the world has ever known. out but we also believe in something called citizenship. hing called citizenship. [ cheering and applause ] >> citizenship, a word at the very heart of our founding, a word at the very essence of our democracy. the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. we believe that when a ceo pays his auto workers enough to buy the cars that they build, the whole company does better. the -- ays [ cheering and applause ] we believe that when a family can no longer be tricked into signing a mortgage they can't afford, that family is protected, but so is the value of other people's homes and so is the entire economy. ted an [ cheering and applause ] >> we believe the little girl who is offer an escape from poverty by a great teacher or a

grant for college could become the next steve jobs or the scientist who cures cancer or the president of the united states and it is in our power to give her that chance. give her that chance. [ cheering and applause ] >> we know that churches and charities can often make more of a difference than a poverty program alone. we don't want handouts for people who refuse to help themselves and we certainly don't want bailouts for banks that break the rules. es. we do not want bailout [ cheering and applause ] >> we don't think that government can solve all of our problems, but we don't think that the government is the source of all of our problems. of our any more than our welfare recipients or corporations or unions or immigrants or gays or any other group we're told to

blame for our troubles. any other group we are told to [ cheering and applause ] because >> because america, we understand that this democracy is ours. we we, the people, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights, that our destinies are bound together, that a freedom which asks only what's in it for me a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism is unworthy of our founding ideals and those who died in their defense. founding ideals and those who died [ cheering and applause ]

>> as citizens we understand that america is not about what can be done for us. it's about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. that's what we believe. that so you see, the election four years ago wasn't about me. it was about you. my fellow citizens, you were the change. you're the reason there's a little girl with a heart disorder in phoenix who will get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can't limit her coverage. you did that. [ cheering and applause ] >> you're the reason a young man in colorado who never thought he'd be able to afford his dream of earning a medical

degree is about to get that chance. you made that possible. [ cheering and applause ] >> you're the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she's ever called home. from th untry sh [ cheering and applause ] >> why selfless soldiers won't be kicked out of the military because of who they are or who they love, why thousands of families have finally been able to say to the loved ones who served us so bravely welcome home. served welcome home. ome. you did that! you did that. you did that! you did that. [ cheering and applause ] >> if you turn away now, if you turn away now, if you buy into the cynicism that the change we fought for isn't possible,

well, change will not happen. if you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void, the lobbyists and special interests, the people with the $10 million checks who are trying to buy this election and those who are trying to make it harder for you to vote, washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry or control healthcare choices that women should be making for themselves. [ cheering and applause ] >> only you can make sure that doesn't happen. only you have the power to move us forward. forward. you you know, i recognize that times have changed since i first spoke to this convention. 3 times have changed and so have

i. and so have !! i'm no longer just a candidate. a so i'm the president. h [ cheering and applause ] >> and that means i know what it means to send young americans into battle for i've held in my arms mothers and fathers of those who didn't return. and i've shared the pain of families who lost their homes and the frustration of workers who lost their jobs. lost their jobs. if the critics are right that i've made all my decisions based on polls, then i must not be very good at reading them.

be very good at reading. [ laughter ] >> and while i'm very proud of what we've achieved together, i'm far more mindful of my own failings knowing exactly what lincoln meant when he said i have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that i had no place else to go. -- no pl [ cheering and applause ] >> but as i stand here tonight, i have never been more hopeful about america. more [ cheering and applause ] >> not because i think i have all the answers, not because i'm naive about the magnitude of our challenges, i'm hopeful because of you. peful because of you. the young woman i met at a science fair who won national recognition for her biology research while livin